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Construction in Daytona Beach leads to damage of motel, owner says

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A Daytona Beach motel owner said he’s dealing with damage because of construction happening next door.

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The owner of the Sierra Suites said the walls are cracking, buildings are separating and floors are collapsing.

The city even condemned one of his buildings because of the damage.

“The stress has been terrible to be honest with you,” owner Richard Harman, Jr. said. “The stress of worrying about what’s going to happen next with the wall, what’s going to happen next with my building, my tenants calling me up and saying, ‘Rick, the floor is cracking up.’”

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Next door is the 12-story Luxury Max Daytona Beach Resort, which is set to open in March.

Harman said when the construction company excavated a ditch on the property line in 2019, it unsettled the soil and caused buildings to shift.

His front office is so bad the city of Daytona Beach has condemned it.

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Harman said it’s been difficult to get help from the cities because his property is in Daytona Beach and the resort is in the shores, which issued a stop work order in October because of erosion caused by the excavation work. It was lifted in December when the shores says a grout injection fixed it.

Harman is suing the construction company for damages. It’s set for trial in November.

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Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.